MATTAPOISETT — A group of tri-town residents came together at Ned’s Point Lighthouse on Thursday, June 19 not to swim or relax on the beach but to celebrate Juneteenth.

Marcus Coward, a human rights commissioner and host of Wake Up New Bedford, was the event’s guest speaker.

He noted that while Juneteenth is a celebration of liberty, freedom and equality, it’s “not the end of the struggles for Black Americans.”

Juneteenth is celebrated to commemorate the day when enslaved people in Texas learned about the Emancipation Proclamation. This occurred in 1865, two years after the Proclamation was enacted and also became the moment when everyone in the country finally knew all enslaved people were free.

The celebration was organized by a Tri-Town Against Racism committee, which included Jason Chisholm who spoke at the event.

“Juneteenth is something that for a lot of us, we lived our entire lives without even knowing about this event,” Chisholm said. “It’s a very important event and it is very nice to see a lot of us taking what might even be a small step coming together to commemorate that day.”

Coward said that celebrating Juneteenth is “important now more than ever.”

“President Trump is doing and has done everything he can to destroy the many civil rights that people spent years fighting and dying for,” he said.

Coward noted that the realities of social and systemic racism can’t be ignored.

“There are just too many examples of system racism,” he said and emphasized the importance of unity and honesty.

“We are connected because we are all human, and we must stand together as one people, whether it’s Palestine, Sudan, Haiti, New Bedford or even here in Mattapoisett. The only way forward is together with love and honor,” Coward said.

John Excellent, who spoke during the event, said he enjoyed the event’s location, which was set-up beside the bathroom at Ned’s Point, because people would walk by and pause to watch what was going on.

“I’m paying attention to my speech but I couldn’t help to have a look over just to see the reaction,” he said. “People were positive, just happy to listen.”

Members of Tri-Town Against Racism agreed that seeing people come out to the event was "uplifting."

“I think each event gets bigger and bigger, and it’s really nice to see. I think it’s empowering. It feels more important,” said Rhonda Baptiste.

Kate Excellent said the celebration was a “recharge” for her.

“It’s so invigorating and it’s just a reminder that there are other people who feel like we do and so it’s always inspiring,” she said.

Rochester resident Jane Berger, who attended the Juneteenth celebration with her daughter, four-year-old Malia, said she chose to attend to “support diversity in general and inclusion.”

She said that “especially right now, it’s really, really important that we get out there and show where you stand and that we’re supportive.”

Malia jumped in and said, “And I was so excited!” 

When asked by her mom why she thought it was important to celebrate Juneteenth and attend the celebration, Malia said simply, “Ruby Bridges,” who was the first Black child to attend the whites-only William Frantz Elementary School during school desegregation in 1960.

Jane said she thinks it’s great to see people from the community get together to “stand up for what we believe in and what’s important, even when right now it’s something you’re not really supposed to be doing.”

She noted how there are currently some people saying you aren’t supposed to be celebrating diversity.

“It’s great for people to come out and say that, no, we are,” she said. “It’s the right thing to do.”

John Excellent said that Juneteenth is a positive event for all Americans.

“It’s a positive thing in the calendar that we hope keeps growing, not just in our small community but nationwide,” he said.